“As long as I live and breathe, I will not cease to come as a humble suppliant and pilgrim to the divine dwelling-places of the Church and of the Nation in Asia Minor, Mother of Saints, in Pontus, and in Eastern Thrace,” said the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in an address today, September 11, 2026, as he welcomed to the Phanar the participants in the Pilgrimage Journey to the City (Constantinople), Prousa, and Nicaea, organized by the Synodal Office for Pilgrimage Tours of the Holy Church of Greece.
The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his appreciation for the Synodal Office for Pilgrimage Tours’ contribution to the cause of sacred journeys and properly understood religious tourism, which, he added, is a multidimensional phenomenon with serious social, cultural, spiritual, and economic dimensions.
“We believe that healthy religious tourism is never merely a leisure trip. The monuments themselves, which visitors enter, do not allow for that. The sanctity of the space of the churches and monasteries, the works of doxological art, the whole ethos and spirit of the place that houses or once housed a life dedicated to God — all of these transform the visitor into a pilgrim. Quickly, the superficial acquaintance with the monuments becomes a desire to partake in the truth of things, in the historical adventures of the Nation, which are inextricably bound to its Orthodox Christian identity, a participation in our wonderful traditions.
It is impossible to imagine that an Orthodox Christian enters a monastery without feeling the ‘good transformation,’ a spiritual upheaval, without sensing that he is in a sanctified place. The monuments of our faith are not mere sights. They are places of divine presence, of prayer and supplication, of spiritual and psychic uplift. Everything there exhales a spiritual fragrance, creates compunction, radiates a mystical light, proclaims the beneficent presence and grace of the God of love. All our monuments and pilgrimage sites form a theological and cultural language that reveals the intangible heritage of the Nation, the Orthodox mindset, the truth of art, the priority of relationship, the ‘culture of the person.'”
The Ecumenical Patriarch went on to emphasize: “On this pilgrimage journey of yours, you too will encounter this same ethos, this same spirit. Although the outward ‘grandeur’ of the Nation no longer exists among our monuments, the eternal present of Truth remains. And even if today we no longer find our once-flourishing communities in the sacred Asia Minor land, nor the charitable institutions, parishes, and monasteries, we find everywhere the imprint of Romiosyni, its indelible traces and its seal, bearing witness to and proclaiming a presence of centuries, and granting vital revelations to all pilgrims, however many times they come to this incomparable place. It is characteristic that the footsteps of devout pilgrims are drawn to our monuments, as if pulled by a holy force. And when the pilgrims arrive, they taste the waters of eternity, hear unspeakable words, undergo an inner renewal, and feel as though, after a long absence in a foreign land, they have returned to their ancestral home. It is the grace of God, a living and life-giving presence, at work. And the icons that remain in our pilgrimage sites, even if defaced by a profane human hand, express intact the divine loving-kindness, our faith in its entirety, our hope unadulterated.
I declare, before you as well, that with the help of the all-merciful God, as long as I live and breathe, I will not cease to come as a humble suppliant and pilgrim to the divine dwelling-places of the Church and of the Nation in Asia Minor, Mother of Saints, in Pontus, in Eastern Thrace. When we celebrate the Holy Services in our restored or ruined churches, we feel that the souls of our devout ancestors, who rest in this holy soil and await the resurrection of the dead, leap and rejoice together with us, chanting together ‘Christ is Risen’ and ‘Glory to God in the Highest.’ What the pilgrims feel here is not mere emotion and compunction. It is a revelation of divine majesty and compassion.”
Concluding his address, the Patriarch spoke of the importance for the new generation not to forget its roots, the culture, the values, and the traditions of the Nation, and to visit the City (Constantinople) and the unforgotten homelands.
“When we address parents and teachers, we always urge them to teach the new generation the traditions and values of the Nation, so that it may not forget its roots and may feel proud of the most precious things it has inherited from its ancestors. We rejoice when we welcome, here in the City and in the unforgotten homelands, young men and women, always with the certainty that even those who came as visitors will become pilgrims, that the journey will become a sacred pilgrimage.”
Earlier, greetings were delivered by the Vice-President of the Synodal Office, Metropolitan George of Kitros; its Secretary, Archimandrite Spyridon Katramados; and the President of the Board of Directors of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), Ms. Angela Varela.
Among those present in the Pilgrimage Journey were the Metropolitans of Zakynthos, Dionysios; of Arta, Kallinikos; of Elassona, Chariton; and of Karpenisi, George, as well as clergy and lay representatives of the Holy Metropolises of the Church of Greece involved in organizing pilgrimage tours.
Immediately afterward, traditional dance groups performed in honor of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Photos: Nikos Papachristou
Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
